Within the Heart of Darkness
by Crystal RoseWing
Summary: Artemis Terraheart is a world renowned author who happens to hold a deep grudge against Jack Frost. But when she meets a certain Boogeyman who discovers that she poses a legendary power; he'll stop at nothing to get her to join him... but will she help him destroy the Guardians or will he help her destroy the darkness in her own heart? PitchxOC... I suck at summaries, story better
1. The Writer

**Hello! Alright this is my first fic for Rise of the Guardians; I fell in love with the movie and characters and this idea just kind of popped into my mind and refused to leave me alone until I wrote it down… that being said it goes without saying that I don't own anything accept my own OC's and the basic plot of this fanfic. Alright now on with the story!**

**Chapter 1**

**The Writer **

_Artemis Terraheart hated winter…_

It was funny how such a simple and blunt fact came to her as she sat in a booth at the local diner, _The Rose Garden_, and looked out the window. Watching the world slowly pass by. Even though it was only about 1 o'clock in the afternoon the weather outside was grey and overcast which made it feel much later than it actually was. Artemis sat quietly her gaze occasionally shifting between the snowy winter scene outside and the tea she had barely touched since she had ordered it. In spite of the fact that this diner was her favorite place to eat out, the only reason she was really here today was to meet with somebody… somebody who was apparently running late… _again_... This thought caused a faint smile to cross her face.

"Late as always. Dreary's trademark curse still lives." She whispered to herself as she took a sip of her tea. In appearance Artemis was an attractive young woman, approximately twenty-six years of age. Her hair was as black as a moonless night and tied back in a long, thick braid that went down to the back of her knees. However a few strands of her hair hung loosely in her face but she paid them no mind. Her skin seemed to be abnormally pale, as though she spent most of her time indoors and out of the sun. She wore a black long sleeved shirt with red tribal designs on the arms and across the chest. She also wore gothic black jeans and black Hot-Topic boots. But by far her most abnormal trait was her eyes… while at first glance one would think they were an odd shade of brown; that was not the case… far from it actually… the truth of the matter was that Artemis Terraheart's eyes were a deep ruby red.

Freaky? Yep, that was the word that best described it. All throughout her life Artemis's eyes had attracted more than a little unwanted attention, especially back when she was a child. She had learned first-hand how cruel other kids could be to someone who was different… even when the only difference was something as small as eye color. Some kids would stare at her while others would call her a freak. But more often than not, having eyes like bloody pools just guaranteed that most people stayed as far away from her as possible. Hell, back when they were alive even Artemis's own parents wondered about her eyes and had even taken her to dozens of specialists, seeking an explanation. But no one could ever offer the much sought after explanation, let alone a remedy for this odd trait. Although after all these years, quite frankly Artemis couldn't have cared less.

_As she alone knew her eyes were unique in more ways than one…_

"Hey Artist! Sorry we're late; there was more traffic than I thought there would be." The sound of an upbeat female voice talking to her drew Artemis's attention out of her thoughts and onto the individual who had finally decided to show up. The newcomer was a pretty young woman, probably a few years younger than Artemis. She had mid-length chocolate brown hair that went down to the center of her shoulder blades, her eyes were a soft blue, and her heavily freckled skin was also pale but not to the same extent as Artemis's. She carried an oddly large black and silver satchel whilst she wore a heavy green coat with some black fur around the hood and cuffs of her sleeves. Barely visible beneath her coat was a festive blue winter sweater. She also wore dark blue jeans and black snow boots.

Dolly Jamerson, known to her friends as Dreary was Artemis's best, if not only friend. They had been friends since High school. Back then Dolly had moved into the area and was quickly considered the odd duck as she was always freakishly happy… so much so that it actually alienated her from most kids, as they found her to be weird. Back then she was often a victim of bullying; until Artemis who had been the schools goth loner at the time, got pissed at what was taking place and beat the living hell out of the people who were picking on her. It was from that day forward that Dolly started hanging around with Artemis; albeit mostly for protection at first… but over time they grew to be friends, eventually becoming inseparable. But whilst hanging out with Artemis she was somehow branded with the nickname Dreary and it had just stuck with her ever since. At the same time Dreary gave Artemis the nickname Artist due to her artistic nature… however unlike Dreary's nickname that everyone called her, only a very select group of people were allowed to address Artemis as that. Over the years the two had remained as close as sisters; all throughout their college years and even when…

_When the worst tragedy of Artemis's life had struck with the fury of a thousand hells…_

"Late? Dreary I'd have worried if you were on time! After all it is your eternal curse to be late for everything." Artemis chuckled dryly. It was a joke, although an accurate one. No matter what the case Dreary always seemed unable to be on time for anything. It was a little surprising she even managed to hold down her job as a journalist with her borderline legendary tendency to be late. "And just what do you mean by _'we'_?"

"Hi Auntie Artemis!" The voice of someone Artemis had failed to notice was also with Dreary. It was the voice of Danny, Dreary's five year old son. He was a cute kid, he had his mother's freckles whilst his hair was dirty blonde in color and his eyes were a vibrant sparkling blue. He was also a little over dressed for the weather, having an extra heavy navy blue coat on as well as two light blue winter sweaters, a long sleeved dark blue shirt and black snow boots. Although this could easily be chalked up to his overprotective mother, it was clear that the little boy didn't mind the extra clothing as he was an oddly calm and cooperative child.

"Hello Danny, I wasn't expecting to see you." Artemis said with a small smile as the boy took off his coat before slipping into the booth. Followed by Dreary once she hung up the coats of both herself and her son.

"I wasn't planning on bringing him but something sort of came up." Dreary replied apologetically whilst reaching into her bag and pulling out a few sheets of blank paper and a couple of crayons for Danny to play with whilst the adults talked.

"Heh, I know how that can be." Artemis said before taking another drink of her tea. "Well they stopped serving breakfast about an hour ago. Want to have lunch instead?"

"Sure and again thanks for meeting up with me. I know it's been kind of a long time… oh, I'm reading your new book by the way. It's… um…" She cast a quick look at her son who was not paying the slightest bit of attention to what was going on. "Nice?" She said with a bit of a forced smile.

"Scaring you senseless Dreary?" Artemis joked darkly. Indeed if there was one thing that Artemis was truly renowned for, it was her writing. Or to put it more appropriately her novels; her _**horror**_ novels. She had authored her first book when she was nineteen and was met with instant success. Her work was always on the best-seller list; Artemis herself had even gained the title of the _**'Queen of Fear'**_ due to the terrifying nature of her work. Although her writings had always been thrilling page turners, it was her latest book that many people had claimed crossed the line… it was bloodier and according to some critics it was far more **'evil'** in nature than the usual content horror writers dared to put into their books.

"I wouldn't say 'senseless' exactly." Dreary muttered rubbing the back of her head in a worried manner. "But… well, it's kind of concerning because of everything that's happened… so… are you… ok?" Sensing where this conversation was going Artemis gave her a cold look. A look that made her red eyes seem to shine malevolently.

"Don't…" was the only word she said and it sent a shiver down Dreary's spine. Undoubtedly Artemis could be a frightening person to piss off and even though Dreary knew her better than anyone, she could still get spooked by that seemingly unnatural glare that her best friend had.

"I'm just worried about you that's all." Dreary said softly, fidgeting slightly under that uncomfortably cold look Artemis was giving her. "I mean it's been a little over a year now since-"

"Hmm? What are you drawing there Danny?" Artemis said to the young boy, successfully stopping the conversation at hand. Much to Dreary's partial relief... while she initially was going to bring a certain subject up; she ultimately decided that in some matters… perhaps it was best to just to let some things rest.

"My friends." Danny replied with a big smile as he turned the paper around for his mother and aunt to see. The picture depicted several figures that were actually pretty well drawn for a five year old. "That's Ryan, Sarah, Mikey, and that's Johnny!" The last name on that list caused a look of panic crossed Dreary's face and an unreadable emotion began to fill Artemis's eyes. Her gaze slowly scanned the drawing… the depiction of the boy Danny called Johnny varied greatly from the other drawings on the page.

_His depiction of this boy included a halo and a small pair of wings…_

"Just cause he's gone doesn't mean we're not friends anymore." Danny stated simply, perhaps not quite grasping his mother's sudden look of fear or his aunt's emotionless eyes. But after a few seconds the cold look left Artemis's face and was replaced with a look of warmth and happiness… even if the happiness was perhaps more than a little forced.

"No… no I'm sure that Johnny feels the same way." She said gently as she pushed the drawing back to Danny who merely smiled and looked over at his mother.

"May I go play some of the games?" He asked; referring to the videogames located in the nearby side room of the diner. After fishing around in her bag for a second Dreary handed her son some quarters and watched him scurry off after a quick, "Thanks Mom!" This left Dreary and Artemis alone… Artemis smiled as she watched the boy go before quickly wiping the freshly forming tears out of her eyes.

"Artist… I am _**SO**_ sorry. I told him not to mention-"

"It's fine…" She said quickly as she tried to focus her attention elsewhere. "You're doing something very right with him you know. He's going to grow up to be a great man someday. I can see it clearly. That's all your doing Dreary, Lionel sure as hell isn't contributing anything." At the mention of this name a long and uncomfortable silence fell between the two…

Now there was a name that had a ton and a half of problems associated with it. Lionel was the father of Danny and was briefly Dreary's husband. If there was ever a bigger piece of slime to have existed it would have covered the whole damn planet. He was a smooth talker and an incredibly wealthy executive to some multi-national company… he'd lured Dreary with his charm. Even in spite of Artemis's warnings that something was just not right with the guy; Dreary fell for his act and ended up wedded to him.

_It was a match made in hell…_

Lionel had cheated on Dreary left, right, and sideways. He made her life a complete misery; in fact it was one of the few times in her life that Dreary truly lived up to her nickname. She tried to keep it together especially when she had become pregnant with Danny… it wasn't until several months after Danny was born did Dreary get the emotional strength up to leave. She had called Artemis begging her to come pick them up. When Artemis had gotten there Lionel had just arrived and was intent on not letting Dreary or Danny go. Which ultimately led to a fight between Artemis and Lionel… to make a long story very short, Artemis left with Dreary and her infant son although she needed to get fifteen stitches in her side, whilst Lionel needed to get five false teeth. The following day Dreary had filed for divorce and Lionel actually signed the divorce papers without any problems… a truly bittersweet victory. Due to the fact that he and Dreary never had a prenuptial agreement, he took every dime she had from her savings and her parents' life insurance policy. He didn't even need the money; he did it only for spite… in short… Dreary was left with nothing, accept Danny.

_And lately he had been trying to take that too…_

"Which brings me to the other reason why I asked to see you today." Dreary said ominously. Finally breaking the silence that had been hanging over the table like a fog. "I have to go to a custody hearing later today… nothing major is getting decided or anything but I don't want Danny to have to be there. He's scared of Lionel enough as it is. Could you maybe…"

"You want me to watch him today?" Artemis concluded a smile reforming on her face. "Dreary, you know you don't have to ask! I enjoy having someone else around in that big house of mine. Besides it's my part of my godmotherly duties right?" She added jokingly since she was in fact the godmother to Danny.

"I just don't want to upset you Artist. I know that it was around this time of year that the accident happened and all-"

"It's in the past and I'm trying to leave it there." Artemis stated coldly with the slightest hint of bitterness vaguely present in her voice. But it quickly dissipated as Danny made his return from the videogames. "So how were the games Danny?"

"I lost." The boy stated as he got back in the booth.

"Danny, how would you like to spend the rest of the day over at your Auntie Artemis's house?" Dreary asked and immediately the child's face lit up with a huge happy grin.

"Really?" He asked practically jumping up in his seat. Seeing his enthusiasm got Artemis to laugh a small warm-hearted laugh.

"Maybe your mom will even let you sleep over?" Artemis inquired casting Dreary a quick look. The boys' mother sighed and shook her head.

"Alright but I'm gonna pick you up early tomorrow. We have things we have to do, right Danny?"

"Right!" He chirped happily.

"She says early, but with your mom we've got till noon at least." Artemis joked with a slight laugh. "But any particular rules outside of the basics?"

"Only one and it's a biggie… don't you dare read him any of your books! The last thing he needs is anymore nightmares!" Dreary stated seriously… even though she did mean it in more of a kidding manner. Artemis nodded quickly before successfully managing to catch the attention of one of the waiters; who had been told by Artemis that they'd let them know when they were ready to start ordering.

_Thankfully lunch went by without any more unpleasant topics being brought up._

* * *

Artemis's house was not actually a 'house' per say… in reality it was a large stone gothic manor.

_Comfortable? Yes. _

_Spacious? Absolutely. _

_Creepy? Without a doubt…_

Well it was… when Artemis was younger she had always been fascinated by this mysterious building, of course back then it was completely run down and abandoned. No one had lived in it for almost a century; many people would claim that the place gave off a malevolent sort of aura that dissuaded visitors… which might also help to explain why there wasn't a neighbor for miles… in short it was a freaky old house that no sane person would want to visit let alone live in. But to Artemis this place had become her home. Her soaring success as a writer had made her very wealthy; and when the chance presented itself she purchased the run-down old manor and had it beautifully restored. But even though it was no longer in bad condition it still gave off an unsettling vibe which still kept most people away… not to mention that anyone who had read Artemis's books wouldn't dream of walking up and knocking on her door anyway; the appearance of her home only added to her terrifying public image. Although according to the gossip around town that was exactly what Artemis wanted…

That aside, tonight on this particular evening Artemis had just finished tucking Danny into one of her comfortable spare bedrooms and was reading him a bedtime story. Definitely not one of her own books, but rather one of those heartwarming stories that helped fill children's minds full of pleasant thoughts and hopefully sweet dreams.

"And they all lived happily ever after. The end." She finished as she closed the book she had been reading from. Danny yawned a little before looking sleepily up at Artemis.

"Auntie, could you leave the light on?" he asked as he adjusted the covers on the bed. "Monsters don't come out when there's light."

"Monsters?" Artemis questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know… like the Boogeyman." Danny said his voice suddenly filled with fear. Artemis thought back to something that had taken place in her own past… she chuckled lightly; looking down at Danny for a second before patting him gently on his head.

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret Danny. You don't have to be afraid of monsters… whether it's light out or dark; they aren't scary at all." She said softly waving her hand around a little bit. "In fact the monsters are probably just lonely."

"Why would the monsters be lonely?" Danny asked curiously.

"Because they look scary. Think about it, if you looked like a scary monster don't you think it would be really hard to make friends?"

"I guess so… but… have you ever seen any monsters Auntie?" Artemis fell silent for a moment, clearly she was thinking of the best way to phrase this.

"Well honey, Auntie has always seen things that other people can't necessarily see. You're asking if I've ever seen any monsters? Well I have; maybe once or twice… but that is a story for another day. Right now it's time for you to close your eyes and go to sleep." She said as she watched Danny smile up at her, clearly reassured. "But in case you're still scared…" Artemis walked over to the nearby window and pulled open the drapes, filling the room with moonlight. "The moon is out tonight, so let it be your nightlight instead."

"Goodnight Auntie Artemis." He said as he yawned loudly and turned over, finally going to try and get some sleep.

"Goodnight John-" Artemis stopped herself; just as a look of pain slowly began flooding into her eyes… but she shook her head, banishing the sadness from her thoughts. "Goodnight Danny." And at that she walked out of the room but was careful to leave the door partway open. Just in case Danny should call out for her she wanted to be able to hear him.

Artemis was silent as she walked down the hall from Danny's room into her study, or as she preferred to call it her _'writing room.'_ It was a large circular shaped comfortable room that was decorated with all sorts of unique things such as a few statues of dragons, a few paintings of varying scenes that Artemis had actually painted herself… she was sometimes considered a jack-of-all-trades by the artistic community... She also had several bookcases filled with all sorts of books, there was a large tapestry hanging on one wall over a large black decorative sofa. There was also a large stone fireplace in the room as well, whilst off to the side there was a door that led out onto a balcony. Lastly in the very center of the room there was a large writing desk that was kept very neat, but there wasn't a computer or even a typewriter on it. No, Artemis preferred a different medium; a very old fashioned one…

_She wrote on blank paper with a feather quill and ink…_

Her publisher absolutely hated her for handing her work in like that. He'd even gone out and personally bought her a laptop in hopes of not having to go through another handwritten manuscript. Not that it had made a difference; Artemis still had that laptop but she only used it to play solitaire… That aside she went out onto her balcony where only a single chair was situated and after taking a moment to brush the snow off the seat she sat down; ignoring the icy feel of the cold that seemed to tear through her thin body. The balcony was situated in an ideal location to watch the stars and the moon at night. Or in Artemis's case, something else…

"Show time." She whispered to herself as the one thing she loved to watch every night began to occur. Right on time as usual.

_She watched as the Sandman's dream sand made its way across the sky._

She could see it. She _always_ could see it. From the time she was a child she had always been able to see things that other people could not. She could see spirits and their powers. No matter what the spirit was, or what kind of power it had, she could see it as plain as day. Did it have something to do with her bizarre eyes? Who knows… The only word Artemis could ever think to describe it as was 'psychic' and she had some severe doubts that that was the right word for it.

Not that it mattered much, right along with her freaky eye color her ability to see things that nobody else could had always caused her grief. Only she had learned quickly enough not to say anything about the spirits to anyone… that was a painful lesson that she didn't want to think about ever again… But so was life, just one painful lesson after another. She'd never actually voice her true thoughts out loud, just as she would never mention being able to see spirits.

"Some spirits are monsters that enjoy nothing more than causing trouble and heartbreak for others. Especially that one… the one **who ruined my life!**" Artemis snarled hatefully up at the sky, she knew that no one could hear her and god she was glad for that. She didn't want anyone to hear her. But sometimes… it just felt better to yell up at the sky. Especially when no one could hear.

"Was it deliberate? It had to have been… what did he think would happen if he caused part of the road to freeze? And stupid me, he looked like a normal human at first so of course I would swerve to miss him… Right off the road… we rolled right off the road and into a tree…" Artemis said so low that it was barely a whisper. "And that spiri- no… that **demon**… was what took my son away from me…" No longer able to restrain her silently growing misery that weighed upon her heart like a million ton weight Artemis placed her face in her hands and wept silently.

She didn't cry for very long though, she fought back her sorrow like she always did… she buried it… no matter how much grief she had coursing through her she didn't want to have to deal with it. It hurt too badly and she knew that this pain would _**never**_ leave. All she could do was fight feeling the pain… fight it for another day.

_Besides… _

_There was a strange sound coming from back inside her home…_

Quickly wiping the tears from her eyes, Artemis got to her feet walked back inside. For a moment she stood completely still, listening for whatever strange had caught her attention a few moments ago. But after a few long minutes of silence she sighed in annoyance and rubbed her temples. Apparently she was only hearing things… or so she thought… right when she was thinking that she might be starting to lose it altogether Artemis heard the sound again only this time she was to determine what the sound was… it sounded like a child's whimper.

"Danny?!" Artemis whispered urgently. Without thinking she picked up a heavy bookend from one of her book shelves and ran as fast as she could down the hallway to the room where Danny was sleeping. In spite of her great panic she managed to push the door relatively quietly. Of course what she saw in the room nearly caused her to have a full blown heart attack!

The first thing she saw was a tall, ghastly looking man hovering over the young boy's bed. Of course the fact that he was surrounded by swirling particles of unnatural black dust immediately hinted that what she was seeing was a spirit rather than a human… not that it helped to improve the situation one bit. Even though for a fraction of a second Artemis inwardly wondered why that black dust bore such a resemblance to the Sandman's dream sand; she didn't need to think twice about what she was going to do. She raised that bookend, took a step towards this creep…

_And Pitch's lights went out in a painful burst of golden butterflies…_

**Alright that's it for now; please remember to Read and Review!**


	2. This Means War

**Chapter 2**

**This Means War**

_Artemis had unknowingly just clubbed the Boogeyman like a baby seal…_

And he went down… hard… and since its master had just lost consciousness; the Nightmare Sand he had been controlling dropped to the ground completely useless, as though it was nothing more than regular sand.

"Mental note… vacuum that stuff." Artemis muttered coldly as she quickly checked on Danny. Although his face was still contorted in fear, in a matter of seconds his features visibly relaxed… as his dreams were no longer being polluted by nightmares. Content that her godson was alright, **(And thankfully in a very deep slumber…)** Artemis set to taking care of her next task, namely getting the unconscious spirit out of Danny's room and ultimately out of her house. After thinking about it for a minute, she decided that the best course of action was to drag this ghastly looking stranger out onto her balcony and throw him off of it…

_What?_

_It's not like it would kill him, he's a spirit after all… _

So with an aggravated sigh she reached down and grabbed the spirit by his arm and started dragging him out of the room. Although unbeknownst to Artemis, in spite of having taken a vicious blow to his head Pitch was quickly regaining his consciousness. It was definitely not the worst hit he had ever received… After all he'd been slammed into walls and cars, blasted by frigid ice magic, and had a molar punched out by one pissed off Tooth fairy…

_Hell, this probably wasn't even the worst thing he'd experienced this week…_

"Ugh…" Pitch groaned as he started to come too; becoming dully aware of the fact someone was dragging him by his right arm... Aside from obviously having a throbbing headache, Pitch was completely confused. Just what the hell had happened? He vaguely remembered that he'd been in the process of corrupting a child's dream into a nightmare when something had struck his head. He slowly opened his eyes and after a second or so his vision re-adjusting, he was able to comprehend exactly what it was that he was seeing. Apparently he was being dragged down a hallway by a young woman… and fortunately enough for him she seemed to be completely unaware of the fact that he was regaining his consciousness.

_Hold on..._

_She could see him?_

Once everything caught up with him, Pitch immediately bolted upright and yanked his arm free of her grasp. This caught Artemis off guard but after a moment her shock was overridden by fighting instinct and she went to strike out with the bookend that she was still carrying in her other hand. Only this time Pitch caught her arm before the blow could land, stopping the heavy bookend a few inches from his head. His large golden eyes now boring into her ruby ones; causing a dark chill to run its way up her spine.

_Surprised? Undoubtedly._

_Afraid? …no…_

For several long minutes neither of them moved or so much as said a word, they just glared at one another. Inwardly Artemis cursed herself for not being more observant. Had she thought he was coming too that quickly she would have hit him again… harder… but her thoughts aside; she was suddenly brought back to reality when Pitch finally broke the silence between them…

"Who are you?" He demanded, his voice sounded so poisonous that it might as well have been the venom of a cobra.

"I should be the one asking that, since this is **my** house and everything. Oh, and you have three seconds to let go of my arm before I knee you where it counts." Artemis hissed right back. Of course this threat actually got Pitch to let go of her and back up a little. He was in no hurry to add that to the list of injuries he'd sustained lately… "Now I know you're a spirit, but what the hell are you doing in here? From what little I actually know about spirits they don't make habits of breaking and entering. Accept on Christmas…" Of course Pitch didn't answer her… instead he took the opportunity to merge into the shadows and disappear. Artemis just stared for several long seconds at the place he had just been before groaning loudly... she should have been expecting something like this to happen.

"And… I forgot they can do that. Damn it…" She growled darkly and rubbed her forehead. Of course, whatever that spirit was he wasn't going to just stick around and answer her questions. Things were rarely that easy. So still aggravated with the way that this whole evening seemed to be going, Artemis went back to her writing room and after returning the bookend to its proper place, she sat down heavily at her desk and began looking in the drawers for some aspirin. Everything else aside, at least Danny would be able to rest easy for the remainder of the night as Artemis doubted very heavily that the spirit would come back. A swift blow upside the head would make anyone think twice about trying something. Or at least that was what she thought…

_Shame she didn't know Pitch._

_ If a mere blow to the head was all it took to stop him the Guardians wouldn't have needed Jack Frost…_

No sooner did she have the small bottle of aspirin in hand did the door to her study suddenly slam shut and all the lights that had been on in the room went out, leaving only the cold moonlight to illuminate the room… the shadows that were being cast all of a sudden began to move on their own accord; the shapes shifting and changing until there were several looming copies of Pitch's shadow reflecting all around the circular room. Artemis angrily stood, still clutching the bottle of aspirin tightly in her hand as she glared at the shadows. If she didn't desperately need its contents she would have chucked it at shadows upon the wall.

"I'm really not in the mood for this whoever you are!" She warned. "I've got a pounding headache right now; the last thing I need to deal with is-" The feeling of a sharp edge being pressed against her throat suddenly silenced Artemis's complaints. She cautiously looked out of the corner of her eye, only to see that it was merely the tip of a very large scythe… and the owner of this nasty looking weapon was standing behind her.

"Let me assure you that your headache is nowhere near as bad as mine is… and I have you to thank for that." Pitch growled coldly as Artemis turned to face him. "You have got a lot of nerve daring to strike me!"

"And you've got a lot of nerve just being here." Artemis retorted. "Just what are you doing in my house you grey skinned freak?!"

"Grey skinned-? Why you little; grrr… that is not important… what is important is that you are able to see me. How? You're clearly not a child… I demand that you tell me this instant!" Pitch inquired not moving his scythe an inch from its position at Artemis's throat. She didn't so much as bat an eyelash at Pitch… in fact she never broke eye contact with him; she just kept giving him a glare that would have chilled the blood in any normal person.

"I don't think that's any of your business. And just who the hell do you think you are anyway? The Boogeyman?" She added with a cold sneer.

"Yes." Pitch stated flatly… at first Artemis thought he was joking, although after a second she realized that he wasn't... which was far from fine in her book, as she suddenly began to recall...

_Some long buried memories from her childhood..._

"Oh no…" She groaned putting her face in her palm and shaking her head. Strangely enough she did not sound angry or afraid; in fact she sounded irritated… really irritated. This reaction earned her an odd look from Pitch; as though this situation wasn't already strange enough in his opinion. She looked up and pushed the scythe away from her neck before crossing her arms. "What were you trying to do to Danny? Give him nightmares?"

"Again, yes." Pitch growled as he let his scythe dissolve back into sands. "You're good at guessing. Is that a special skill or just dumb luck?" he asked sarcastically.

"Dumb luck… it's how I've made it through life so far." Artemis replied with equal sarcasm. But she sighed and decided to change her tone. She acknowledged that while she was in a foul mood, there wasn't any need to make a bad situation worse. After all, perhaps he could be reasoned with… "Look I get that this is probably what you do and all but please, lay off Danny. He has enough troubles when he's awake… he doesn't need to deal with nightmares too." At this request Pitch chuckled dryly. While this whole thing was definitely a first for him and admittedly somewhat amusing; it didn't sway his growing frustration one little bit.

"Do you really think that I'd just leave your son alone because you asked nicely? Sorry but that's not how it works." He growled before he started circling Artemis like a vulture. Although the second he'd brought her son up, Artemis's temper suddenly spiked dangerously.

"Danny is **NOT** my son!"

"Then why do you care if I give him nightmares?"

"Of course I care! He might not be my son, but he is my godson! Can't you just go find some other children to bother? Hell if you want I could write you up a list of annoying little brats that deserve years of nightmares!"

_Now at that Pitch just stared…_

_Admittedly quite dumbstruck at what she had just said…_

"You're… serious?" he asked partway not believing her.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. The kids I'm talking about deserve a lot more than just nightmares… and if I can throw some unpleasantness their way I'll do it. Oh, is there a chance that you could bother their parents at the same time?" She asked with a cold chuckle… and it was true, she wasn't kidding around. The kids that she was talking about were a group of bullies that had gone to the same school as her deceased son Johnny and every day they had made his life a living hell. Artemis could still vividly remember how he would come home with black-eyes and bruises. Yet in spite of this he never cried… or at least never let her see him cry… he had always tried to handle his problems by himself, so that he wouldn't bother his mother. But after one particularly bad time Artemis had personally gone down to the school and complained to the dim-witted principal. Who proceeded to call all the bullying kids parents together for a parent-teacher conference. She remembered that day; she remembered how furious she had been when the other parents had dared to blame her Johnny for the fights! How they claimed that he had aggression issues because of his mentally unstable mother!

"_Well, we can hardly blame the poor boy for his mental problems. No father in sight and look at what goes on in his mother's head! He'll probably be institutionalized by the time he's 13!"_ The mother of one of the bullies; a bitchy platinum blonde who clearly had full breasts and an empty head had said straight to Artemis's face! It took all of Artemis's self-control not to outright punch the woman right in the mouth. But what was worse was that the principal had actually agreed with her! It had enraged Artemis that people were judging her son by judging her! She was so infuriated that she promised to let Johnny change schools at the first opportunity…

_Unfortunately he never did get to go to a different school…_

_How she wished she had done something sooner..._

"Just who are you?" Pitch asked once again, no longer circling Artemis but fixing his golden eyes upon her. While she had been lost deep in her thoughts, he had been looking inside of her… looking for her fears. What he found was a surprising amount of anger and sorrow that she had brewing within the cauldron of her heart. Naturally he couldn't read those emotions, as fear was his forte' not anger or grief. But what was far more interesting than those emotions was a distinct lack of fear. It was quite unusual, as it wasn't that she didn't have fear… it was just that it was buried so deep within her being that even he, the personification of fear itself, had trouble seeing past the emotional barriers she had constructed within her heart.

_He was suddenly interested… _

_Perhaps there was even more to this strange woman than he originally believed…_

"My name is Artemis; Artemis Terraheart." She stated flatly.

"Named after the Greek goddess of the hunt? Hmm… I didn't think anyone put that kind of care into selecting names anymore." Pitch thought out loud, more observing this to himself than intentionally starting a conversation. Although Artemis just snorted and shook her head.

"I wish… I was named after my rich, great aunt Artemis. It was my parent's way of trying to kiss her ass in order to get left something in her will." She explained bitterly before she actually began to look Pitch up and down. "Are you really the Boogeyman?"

"Of course I am!" Pitch snapped angrily. "What's the matter? Didn't believe I existed? And to re-address a question I asked earlier, how are you able to see me?!"

"Geeze, you're touchy." Artemis said a little taken aback with his outburst, but she quickly shrugged it off. "As for how I can see you… the truth is I don't know." She said with a deep sadness clearly in her voice. But she took the opportunity to pop open her aspirin bottle and swallow three of the pills… praying that this pounding headache of a conversation would soon be over. "All my life I have been able to see things that no one else could see. And for your information, yes I did believe you were real. I've probably believed in you more than the Easter Bunny… but admittedly I kinda pictured you a bit more…" She looked him over one last time before carefully choosing her words. "…intimidating? Maybe even borderline terrifying? You're definitely not what I picture when I think of fear incarnate." Pitch's eye twitched as Artemis's words sunk in. Although it was probably due to the concussion he'd just recieved, he overlooked what she had said about believing in him more than the Easter Bunny.

"What in the world could you possibly know about fear!?" He growled wrathfully, barely managing to restrain the urge to run her through with is scythe. But imagine his surprise when she suddenly burst out laughing! As though what he had just said was the funniest thing in the world!

"Wow… you really don't pay a lot of attention to what's going on in the literary world do you?!" She snickered; suddenly feeling that this conversation had shifted in her favor. "I scare people for a living and I'm quite good at it."

"What?" he questioned unable to hide his own amusement. "You?! Scare people?! Don't make me laugh!"

"Yeahhh… while you scare little kids by hiding under their beds and giving them nightmares. I get paid to write books that terrify adults." Artemis stopped, and then smiled as a funny thought suddenly popped into her head. Perhaps as a show of her poor people skills she actually said it out loud, not even thinking about the repercussions it might have with a clearly touchy Boogeyman. "My guess is… that I'm probably more feared than you are."

"Like hell you are!" Needless to say that Pitch was definately not amused any more.

"I'm just saying… I know a lot of kids have never even heard of the Boogeyman. Granted I do think you are more known now then you were ten years ago, but still you are mostly regarded as a bad dream. The only reason that Danny has even heard of you is because his good-for-nothing father tells him that you and other monsters will kill him if he misbehaves." Artemis explained, yet unfortunately she failed to notice the look of growing anger on Pitch's face. "In my case anywhere I go I get looks from people, virtually everyone knows who I am and what I write. Hell, many people even call me the Queen of Fear."

"You like it?" he hissed wickedly.

"I hate it. But that is beside the point; while people know my name… they don't know yours." That was the last straw and all at once the rage growing behind Pitch's eyes peaked… but rather than there being a violent outburst...

_A cold, evil smile suddenly took the place of his rage..._

"Alright… fine. I'm going to leave the boy, Danny, alone. And I no longer care how it is that you are able to see me…" Pitch said in a friendly-yet-menacing voice. Well this surprising turn of events caused Artemis to blink once in surprise. Although her look immediately became suspicious and almost worried. In her experience that tone of voice very rarely had anything positive associated with it. And unsurprisingly she found that to be the case now.

"But mark my words, I am personally going to make your life a living hell…" he added sinisterly. The look of anger that had disappeared from Artemis quickly returned, which in turn caused his evil smile to become a genuinely real and smug one.

"Why?!"

"Let's see… you dared to insult me and you have claimed that your pathetic talents as a writer can surpass **mine** in creating fear! Oh, and let's not forget the most important reason of all… you hit me in the head with a bookend!" Pitch snapped getting right up in Artemis's face.

…_definitely not his smartest move…_

Artemis wound up and punched him as hard as she possibly could right in his face... and Pitch once again fell to the floor. Thankfully this time he managed to keep his consciousness. But Artemis loomed over him; seeming to emit an aura of rage that caused her blood red eyes seem as though they were glowing. Just what did all the spirits of the world have against her? Wasn't it bad enough that some rotten little winter demon had taken the most precious thing in her life away from her? Now the Boogeyman wanted to personally destroy what little remained of her sanity?! She'd like to see him try!

_It wasn't like he could do any more damage than what the world had already done…_

She reached down and grabbed him by the front of his robes and pulled him up until their faces were mere inches from each other. What Artemis said next may have been barely louder than a whisper, but was filled with spite.

"Do… your… worst…"

_She had just challenged him…_

And just like that the conversation was over. Even though Artemis did not loosen her grip on his robes he disappeared back into the shadows; the only thing that remained in her hands was some of his Nightmare Sand. He was gone… for now anyway. All at once it seemed as though all of Artemis's energy drained out of her body and she felt horribly weak and dizzy. It wasn't exactly surprising; she was mentally and emotionally exhausted from what had transpired earlier on in the day, and her little run-in with the Boogeyman hadn't exactly helped.

"Definitely not what I was expecting…" She mumbled but then looked down at the handfuls of black sand she was still holding. It was… oddly beautiful in a strange and dark way. It was at that moment that an odd thought occurred to Artemis; a thought that could only have been the result of over-exhaustion… because if she had actually been thinking straight, Artemis would have dismissed it immediately.

It didn't matter if this stuff had anything to do with her newfound enemy, it was pretty… and it would be a shame to waste it. So without really thinking, Artemis went over to her desk and after locating her feather quill and inkwell; she pulled the cork out of her inkwell and carefully poured the Nightmare Sand in… what she figured was that it would add a unique color to whatever she wrote or drew next…

_It was important to note that if Artemis had been a normal person this act would have not lead to anything…_

_But Artemis herself did not know just how different she was…_

But none of that mattered at the moment, as currently Artemis felt like she was about to drop. So with an aggravated sigh she made her way to her own bedroom. Once there she kicked off her boots and without even bothering to undress she got into her bed and was just about to try to sleep when she suddenly remembered her most important nightly ritual... she couldn't just go to sleep without doing it... She slowly felt around her neck for a thin silver chain, after a second she pulled it up to her eye level and located the small item that was attached to the said chain.

_It was a beautiful silver locket, that contained a picture of her son..._

"Goodnight Johnny..." She whispered so low that it almost wasn't audible. After her gaze wandered over the picture one last time she rolled over in her bed and pulled the covers up over her shoulders. And within a matter of minutes Artemis was in a deep dreamless sleep.

_Little did she know that she would soon be having nightmares when she was awake…_

**Okay yeah I'm REALLY sorry if this chapter wasn't particularly good and if I made Pitch seem kinda OOC, but I promise that the next chapter will definitely have more action and just be more entertaining in general… but for now please remember to Read and Review!**


	3. Let the Games Begin

**Chapter 3**

**Let the Games Begin**

Just as planned Dreary came to pick up Danny a little before noon the next day. Shortly after bidding farewell to her best friend and godson, Artemis received a phone call from her publisher. He was in town and wanted to discuss some things with her over lunch. So Artemis had agreed to meet him at one of the ritzier restaurants in town and was currently driving there.

_Of course the events that had transpired the previous night had her slightly on guard._

Whereas most people would look back on such crazy happenings and disregard it as nothing more than a dream. Artemis knew better; she had learned to never doubt her eyes. If she saw something, or if something happened, no matter how impossible… it was probably real.

Upon arriving at the restaurant which was named _Elegant_, Artemis had barely gotten inside the front door before someone called her name from one of the beautiful tables. There sat her publisher, a man named Joseph Lirango. More commonly referred to as Joey, or just Joe as his friends call him. He was a young man, only in his early thirties. His hair was a dirty blonde in color whilst his eyes were a deep mocha brown. He looked fairly tanned, probably from extensive time outside as it was no secret to anyone who knew him that he liked outdoor activities. He wore an expensive looking grey suit and black shoes. He was smiling as Artemis made her way over to the table and sat down in the seat directly across from him.

"Right on time as always." Joseph acknowledged. It should be noted that when he spoke his voice had a very thick Brittish accent. "How's everything going for you? Well I hope?"

"It's good to see you to Joe. And yeah things have been going well enough." Artemis acknowledged as she rubbed her eyes which were feeling a little sore; more than likely due to the previous night's less-than-restful sleep.

"Really? You look… tired." Joe added with a bit of concern noticeable in his voice. "I know that this time of year must be tough for you and all-"

"And it will remain tough for as long as people keep bringing up the subject in question! So please Joe, let's just talk about something else." Artemis growled irritably, her eyes seeming to emit an eerie red glow causing Joe to gulp slightly.

"Ah yes well… I was in town and I was hoping to talk to you about your new book idea. That is if you've come up with one yet?"

"I've had some ideas, none of them good. I don't know Joey; I just… haven't had any stories come into my head lately. I guess it might be writers' block." Artemis answered sadly as her gaze shifted around the room at the other people in the restaurant, but her eyes were suddenly drawn to the shadows…

_When she swore that one moved on its own…_

"Well in my opinion I'd say that you're well overdue for writers' block my dear!" Joe said successfully managing to re-capture Artemis's attention. "Since you were 19, you have authored book after book like clockwork! And every one of them has been on the Best-Seller list! Do you know the troubles I have with other authors? Some churn out a book here and there, while others are just radical disappointments time and time again." A sudden ringing sound interrupted his little speech and Joe quickly took a look at his cell phone. "Oh, I have to take this; please excuse me for a minute Artemis." He said as he stood up from the table and walked off towards the Men's Room to speak to the caller in private and to not be rude and talk in front of Artemis. Not that She really cared one way or another but that was Joe, always afraid of being rude. She just sighed and took a sip from the glass of water that had been poured for her as soon as she had sat down at the table.

"He's a bit of an idiot isn't he?" Pitch Black commented dryly.

Artemis spat out the water she had been drinking and started coughing violently as she looked at the chair next to her… and at the Boogeyman who was nonchalantly sitting in it, resting his face on his hand and smiling coldly at Artemis's completely freaked out expression. For a second she just stared at him before her brain started working again and she managed to regain herself.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" She hissed under her breath. "Shouldn't you be hiding under a bed somewhere rather than be out in public?!"

"I can be anywhere I want to be," He answered simply. "As normally when I'm in public virtually no one can see me nowadays. But you are the happy exception to the rule."

"Still, why are you here? At this table? Now?!"

"Didn't pay attention to my warning last night did you? I said that I was going to devote my time to driving you mad… and I meant it." Artemis groaned irritably at his words. Of course… this was just her luck now wasn't it? But just when she was about to say something else to her newfound annoyance, Joey returned to the table and sat down in his seat…

"Sorry about that, bit of business that needed clearing up." He apologized sincerely. Artemis just nodded as she glared menacingly at the unseen spirit that was sitting in the other seat… mentally wishing that Joey had gotten a table with two seats instead of four. "Now as I was saying… maybe it's time that you actually took some time off, maybe go on vacation somewhere? Perhaps a cruise? I was on one six months ago and I'll tell you, it's very relaxing."

"Yes a cruise! I remember the last one I was on… nothing like striking an iceberg to get peoples fear going. The Titanic really lived up to its promise." Pitch laughed coldly.

"That's terrible…" Artemis hissed darkly.

"Oh, so you don't like the cruise idea." Joey said a little surprised by Artemis's angry tone. She stopped and blinked before Pitch's words and overall reality suddenly smacked into her like a freight train…

_Pitch couldn't be seen or heard by other people… _

_He was sitting at the table and making annoying commentary…_

…_crap!_

"Oh no, not you Joey… I was just thinking about something… else." She said apologetically.

"Thinking about your soon to be lost sense of sanity?" Pitch inquired at this.

"Stuff it…"

"Pardon?"

"Not you Joe! Ugh… look I'm sorry, I am just a little tired right now. I slept like crap last night and… well you know how it is." Artemis explained as best as she could. Without bringing up the whole subject of the Boogeyman sitting with them at their table and whatnot…

"So things really aren't going well then are they? Are you having another bout of insomnia?" Joey asked.

"One could say that." Pitch answered with a sneer. Quite frankly he was having more fun now than he had had in years. Although even though he had to admit he had never actually done this before… namely target a single person to torment. Of course things rarely seemed to go according to plan at all nowadays. Even though his grand plan to return to power had failed ten years ago, it had still brought about an unexpected bonus. The fear of him, the Boogeyman, been reintroduced to many children around the world. A small compensation to having failed at destroying the Guardians; but bittersweet in one particular fact…

_He'd only been able to enjoy it for the past two years rather than ten…_

_This thought led him to unconsciously rub at his wrists…_

Nonetheless, Artemis's irritation at Pitch just continued to grow. She clenched her teeth and above anything else she wanted to punch him right in the face. But after another second or so she took a deep calming breath… or at least as calming as a deep breath could be given the particular circumstances.

"No… no it's not insomnia, it's just a bit of a rough patch. Don't worry about me though, after what I've been through I can handle **anything** that life throws at me." She said calmly but was careful to throw an icy glare at Pitch. His amused look then changed to one of annoyance. There she was challenging him again. Which was fine with him, she'd only be making a bigger fool of herself in public.

"Are you sure that you're alright?" Joseph asked again. He had known Artemis's for several years now and he had to admit… she was definitely acting more than a little strange right now.

"Yeah… I'm just-" Artemis stopped and suddenly her demeanor shifted. Her eyes brightened and a happy smile appeared on her face. "I'm fine. Perfectly fine." She said as she carefully… very carefully and nonchalantly so that the Boogeyman didn't notice, she picked up her fork from her place setting and brought it underneath the table.

"Of the many things that you undoubtedly are… fine is definitely not one of them." Pitch injected once more… only now Artemis was ready for him.

_And she stabbed him hard in the leg with the fork…_

"Yeow!" Pitch yelped and almost fell backwards out of the chair, but he caught himself and rubbed his leg where he'd just been stabbed. Artemis's smile just grew at this.

"Why you-" Pitch started…

_Only to be stabbed again…_

_and again…_

_and again…_

Virtually whenever he opened his mouth to say something Artemis would stab him. Which she discovered had two very distinct benefits; the first and most obvious was that it would shut Pitch up. The second, Artemis discovered that stabbing him was apparently very therapeutic. Hmmm, maybe she should start stabbing everyone who annoyed her…

_Wishful thinking…_

Still the stabbing was really starting to annoy Pitch. So when he next opened his mouth and when Artemis went to stab him he grabbed the fork and tried to pry it from her grasp. It was a rather humorous sight actually; Artemis was talking casually to Joey and trying as hard as she could to not draw any attention to the fact that she was currently at war with a spirit that only she could see… and they were essentially having an indignant fight over a fork. Of course when Artemis tried to yank the fork completely out of Pitch's grip, he suddenly cried out in pain and let go…

_He had accidently cut himself, and pretty deeply by the look of it…_

Artemis blinked and looked down at the fork that was now covered in some sort of black liquid. But looking back at Pitch and seeing that the black substance was oozing from a very deep looking cut on his palm, it was safe to assume that the substance was his blood.

'_Well, I didn't mean for that to happen. But that is what you get for being a pain in the ass.'_ Artemis thought to herself as she watched a look of pure rage suddenly begin to fill the Boogeyman's face. And in anger he swatted her glass of water so that it spilled all over the front of her clothes… the glass also flew across the room and broke against a wall.

_And with that Pitch Black disappeared back into the shadows…_

_Leaving all eyes in the restaurant transfixed on Artemis and Joe…_

Joey stared for a minute as Artemis sighed and started drying herself off with her napkin. By far this had to be one of the strangest things he had ever seen. One minute he was just casually talking with Artemis and the next thing he sees her glass literally fly across the room without anyone having touched it!

"What the heck was that?" he asked, his brain was still trying to process what he had just seen and determine some sort of rational explanation for it.

"A sure sign that God hates me…" Was Artemis's only reply. Of course, this was how things were going to be? Just her luck… Even though she admitted that she didn't mean to actually hurt the Boogeyman. Nonetheless she just readjusted herself in her chair and selected a different fork from one of the other place settings and continued talking to Joey in a calm manner. Eventually the discussion managed to resume without any further interruptions. Although Artemis was fairly certain that she would probably not be welcome back at _Elegant_ any time soon. But she was even more certain of something else…

_The score was currently: Artemis 1, Boogeyman 0…_

_But she had a suspicious feeling that the game was only just beginning…_

**Okay yeah I'm sorry about how short this chapter is and again if Pitch seemed a bit OOC… And I do know that the whole 'cutting hand on a fork' thing seems far-fetched, but I've actually seen someone cut themselves on a fork before 0_0…**

**Alright, that's it for now! As always please remember to Read and Review!**


	4. Magic Artist

**Chapter 4 **

**Magic Artist**

After the rest of her meeting with Joseph going relatively smooth, Artemis returned to her home and decided to do the only thing she could think of to pass time... make an attempt at writing a new book. Of course since she was currently lacking any new, let alone good ideas it dwindled down to her just sitting at her desk staring at a dozen sheets of blank paper for several long hours. She sat in her seat, resting her face in her hand while drumming her fingers in front of her in a bored manner while a warm fire crackled from within the fireplace.

"Damn ye writers block…" She muttered darkly. Although honestly Artemis was getting a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that was the all too familiar precursor to another wave of silent misery washing over her. She took a deep breath and sighed as she once again fought the feeling of sadness and eventually managed to suppress it. "I've got to think of something else… before I lose it." Luckily though she did figure out something to do to take her mind off of things. She picked up her feather quill and dipped it into the inkwell; she then began to draw a picture of a black rose.

_Stupid waste of time? Probably…_

_Successfully taking her mind off of her troubles? Sorta…_

Although imagine Artemis's surprise when she noticed strange flakes of what she first assumed to be glitter in the ink. She had used this particular ink before and it didn't have glitter in it then… of course after another second of thinking she suddenly remembered how she had placed some of the Boogeyman's Nightmare Sand into the ink. She looked down at her quill and then at the half-finished drawing on the paper… and shrugged. It wasn't like it anything was going to happen or anything, so she just continued on with what she was doing… What Artemis failed to notice was that Pitch had materialized in the shadows behind her and was slowly advancing towards her with a dagger crafted from his Nightmare Sand.

_No he wasn't thinking murder… _

_Not really…_

What he was thinking about doing was cutting the annoying bitch's long braided hair off. And after that he would proceed with his plan of giving her some of the worst nightmares he had ever created. Nightmares that he had crafted just for her… It would serve her right for what happened earlier on in the day… hadn't he endured enough pain? Must it also seem that this irritating woman's very existence was meant to mock him? Her title as the Queen of Fear alone was a cruel slight at him. But there was one thing… one thing above all else that Pitch hated about Artemis… She spread fear with books; books that held the content of a thousand of his worst nightmares… **(Since he had learned about her supposed skill, Pitch had stolen a few copies of her books and had begun reading them. Only to find much to his dismay, that Artemis truly did have the talent that she claimed to have…)** In short she wrote all of these frightening things…

_And she was respected because of it…_

It ate at him, it really did. She was in a strangely similar way doing the same job as him; only he was hated while she was given a title and gratitude. It made him more than angry, he was jealous. Jealous that she wrote about terror and mayhem and was respected for her work, while he was reduced to a child's bad dream and hated for it. No part of this seemed fair to him. Not one bit. So his plan to annoy her until the last threads of her sanity finally snapped was really nothing more than a way to get her to stop doing what was essentially his job…

So there he was sneaking up behind her, blade in hand and ready to give her hair a very close cut. As he drew closer he did take notice that she was drawing a picture of a flower of some sorts. Not that he gave a damn one way or another… In fact it was just as he was about to grab hold of her hair and slice it off that she had apparently finished her work. Artemis blew softly on the paper before holding it up to her eye level and looking it over a little more closely.

_And that was when the fun really began…_

It was subtle at first; the Nightmare Sand in the drawing slowly began to glow faintly on seemingly its own accord. But that subtle black-light like glow began to become brighter and brighter; that was when the image of the black rose Artemis had just drawn literally separated from the paper and plopped onto the desk before her, sparkling darkly in the firelight.

_Artemis just stared at it for several loooong minutes…_

_And from directly behind her, so did Pitch…_

"Alright… that's it, I think I'm high!" Artemis growled angrily to herself as she tried to rationalize whatever the hell had just happened. Since this was outright freaky even by her standards. She looked at the freshly materialized black rose before tentatively reaching out and poking one of its petals with a finger. After another second or so of poking the damn thing she carefully picked the rose up and began to examine it. "Just what the hell is going on?!" she demanded, definitely not expecting an answer.

"Can it be?" Pitch muttered having completely forgotten about his intention to cut Artemis's hair. There was simply no way that what he saw was real…

_Because if it was, the implications were almost beyond imagining... _

Artemis jumped slightly and whipped around to face him, her eyes blazing with mounting rage. "I should have known that you had something to do with this shit!" She snapped, quite honestly beginning to feel that everything that was going on was severely weighing down her sanity. Not that she would ever show it… "Get the hell-"

"Tell me now," Pitch demanded with a sudden urgency in his voice that was somewhat startling for Artemis to hear. "Did you put Dream Sand into the ink that you drew this with?"

"Um no… not exactly. I put in some of your, what I assume to be Nightmare Sand, into it the other night after our little... chat... so is that why this happened? Anything that gets drawn with that crap will materialize?" Artemis asked as her tone suddenly became dark again. "Ok, haha really funny." She picked up the black rose intending to chuck it at the Boogeyman's head; only she dropped it with a yelp of pain as she had failed to realize that this rose had thorns… sharp thorns… which had just cut into her hand. This was strange because she didn't draw any thorns on this rose… and it didn't have them when she'd first picked it up a few seconds ago.

"That's not how it works, not even close." Pitch said as he stared at Artemis. His golden eyes were wide and filled with a mix of curiosity and utter disbelief. For some odd reason Artemis found this look to be far more unnerving than his usual rage filled glare. "What you did, is not something that just anyone can do."

"Well duh, that's because not everybody can get their hands on Dream Sand or in this case Nightmare Sand."

"No, it's far more than that. Even if every single person in the world could put Dream and Nightmare Sand into paints and ink, it wouldn't simply enable whatever they drew or wrote to become real…" He explained. "So… if what I suspect is true… then it would certainly explain how and why you are able to see me." But upon mentioning a supposed reason for her …gift… Pitch unintentionally started to unnerve the author, and yet at the same time she was actually interested in what this dark spirit had to say.

_Provided of course that he wasn't screwing with her…_

"You mean there is a reason-" Artemis started to speak but then paused as she silently weighed her options. If he was trying to trick her she could be walking right into it; but what if he wasn't… as much as she was inclined to believe that he was lying, the look in his eyes told a different story. An odd trait that Artemis had picked up over the course of her life was the ability to perceive whether someone was lying or telling the truth by looking into their eyes. It was a useful little trick, but she wasn't so sure how accurate it would be with a creature like the Boogeyman…

_But she saw no lies in his eyes… _

So in spite of the voice of reason screaming in protest, Artemis decided to see if she could get any answers to the questions she had secretly wondered all of her life. "You mean there is an actual reason why I can see you and… all the other spirits?"

"Perhaps…" Pitch muttered as he managed to reclaim his composure, no longer showing the emotions of surprise and curiosity that he was still feeling. "But let's see it once more to be certain. Draw something else and it will either confirm or disprove my suspicions." So with a sigh of aggravation Artemis turned back to face the now empty sheet of paper. She dipped her quill once again into the ink but right before she started to draw something… she paused and looked at Pitch questioningly.

"Anything in particular I should draw this time?"

He thought about this for a second before an interesting thought occurred to him."Try drawing something living; perhaps a snake for example." So with that idea in her mind Artemis began to sketch out a drawing of a snake; a cobra to be precise. Even though it was meant to be a small and quick drawing, Artemis put in a great deal of detail. But the second that she determined that it was finished, just like before, the Nightmare Dust began to glow with the same black-light effect and then the drawing began to rise up off of the paper; only it did not remain as small as Artemis had originally drawn it… in fact it became quite large. Nearly five feet long and equipped with menacing fangs and glowing eyes…

_Glowing red eyes… _

Actually there were several splashes of red throughout the entire body of the cobra, most prominently in its hood and fangs. But its eyes glowed with hellish ferocity and were vibrantly alive; and when it hissed… if it was possible it sounded even deadlier than it looked... Pitch stared, his mouth having fallen open as soon as the hellish serpent had first started to rise off of the paper.

"I knew about the legends… but I never thought I'd ever encounter one!" he exclaimed in awe as he reached out to touch the cobra, only to pull his hand back quickly as the snake lashed out to bite him. This brought to light something very unsettling for Pitch; while this creature was crafted from the power of his Nightmare Sand and yet it clearly was not his ally. It caused him to have an unpleasant flashback to when his Nightmares had turned on him right after his defeat at the hands of the Guardians…

"Care to enlighten me on just what the hell you're talking about?!" Artemis growled in an annoyed manner. Although she was nothing short of blown away by the fact that the snake she just drew had literally come to life in front of her, an explanation would definitely be nice right about now! Pitch's eyes once again fixed on her and then narrowed slightly.

"I believe that you are what is called a Magic Artist." He said coldly.

"Magic… Artist?" Artemis questioned as she eyed him warily and then looked over to the cobra she had created. It was staring at her with those blood red eyes, although not in a menacing way… it was almost as if it was waiting for her to tell it to do something. Awaiting orders in a sense. "So everything that I draw can come to life? One problem with that, I've been drawing things for years and I can assure you that this is the first time anything like this has ever happened!"

"You said it yourself; you didn't have access to Nightmare or Dream Sand before… and that is the key to a Magic Artists power." Pitch continued to explain calmly. "I've read about this power, but I have never encountered it until now… How very interesting."

"Yeah… interesting." Artemis grumbled darkly. "So all this time, my being able to see things that no one else can see is because I am a so called Magic Artist? And anything I draw or paint will come to life as long as it has some Dream or Nightmare Sand in it? Wow… that's really useful." She said while her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I don't think you realize just how powerful this little gift of yours is." Pitch commented as within the back of his mind his thoughts began race. He began to think of how he could use this power to his advantage. As he had mentioned earlier, he'd read about Magic Artists and their abilities and they were very powerful. If he could get this woman's assistance, he would be able to- he stopped himself right there. He had already burned that bridge…

_He was very good at making enemies…_

_But he was absolutely horrible at making allies…_

"The only way this wretched gift could be of any use to me at all is if it could bring the dead back to life." Artemis hissed at Pitch, but then she stopped and her eyes suddenly widened with silent hope. "Wait… can it do that?"

"No… it cannot." Pitch said and he watched all of that hope wither and die just as quickly as it had appeared. "But it does put you on the same level as some powerful spirits, provided that you learn to use it properly."

"Oh joy… homework." Artemis muttered just as the cobra she had created lowered its head to her, seeming to sense the bitterness growing deep within her heart. Unconsciously she began to gently pet its head. "Why bother telling me any of this? I thought that you wanted to make my life miserable?"

"To be honest… I have nothing better to do." Pitch muttered sadly and it was true. Aside from initially trying to drive Artemis insane, he'd also been trying to keep a low profile so he wouldn't accidently alert the Guardians to the fact that he'd returned. He wasn't strong enough to face them…

_In the pit of his black heart he wondered if he would ever be again…_

So a heavy and uncomfortable silence fell between the Boogeyman and the writer. Realizing that any further attempts to drive Artemis insane would more than likely just bring him more trouble than it was worth Pitch turned to leave… defeated… one would assume he would be used to it by now. Only it was right when he was about to disappear into the darkness of the shadows did Artemis ask him a question that stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Could this power kill a spirit?" She asked seriously. Pitch stopped and glared back at her, a feral snarl forming on his features. Realizing exactly how that question must have sounded… "No I didn't mean you! I'm talking about a different spirit… a winter demon."

"A winter… demon?" He echoed her words while giving Artemis a strange look. "Could you describe this demon?" He noticed how she tensed as she seemed to be recalling a memory and noticed how her eyes suddenly became darker…

_Mad with hate..._

"It looked human enough in shape. But it had white hair, wore a dark blue hoodie and carried a wooden staff of some sorts." Artemis explained as her eyes began to undeniably glow with her rage. Pitch stared at her almost not believing what he was hearing.

"Jack Frost?" He said with complete disbelief. "You want to kill Jack Frost? Why?"

"You know that monster?!" Artemis snapped.

"We've met…" Pitch chose his words very carefully, not only because Artemis's cobra reared itself up and began to hiss at him threateningly but because he could see a single tiny light of opportunity. "To make a long story short, he's my enemy… but why do **you** want to him dead?"

"It's personal... let's just call it a matter of revenge." She said as she unintentionally began to fiddle with the lockets chain around her neck. "But you didn't answer my question; can my powers be used to kill that particular spirit? Jack Frost?"

"I'd have to say... no." he chuckled at the look of anger in Artemis's face as she glared at him. "Unless of course, you were willing to work with me."

"Why would you want to help me?"

"I don't… As I just mentioned, the spirit you are after is one of my enemies. If you are really intent on going after him, it would be beneficial to me." Pitch rationally explained. "I tried taking out the Guardians once before, but they defeated me… with his help." A truly pained expression crossed his face and he looked away from Artemis for a moment. "But if you help me get what I want, I'll help you get the revenge on Jack that you want. Seems like a decent arrangement to me."

Artemis snorted. "Thanks for the offer, but I work better alone. Besides I only have an issue with that one spirit, not with these Guardians." Pitch growled lowly at this, finding this situation similar to how his offer of an alliance with Jack was shot down.

_Of course no one wants to work with a monster…_

_Still… he would try to make this alliance just one last time…_

"Fine then… but think about this, I know about how some of those powers of yours are supposed to work and I could teach you how to use them quickly. Or you can just spend the next few months figuring them out on your own and possibly not unlocking one tenth of your potential. And then let's not forget about the problem of you actually _finding_ Frost in order to get your revenge. Since he could be literally anywhere…" At this he turned around to leave.

"Hang on." Artemis said, halting Pitch's departure. She said nothing at first, clearly considering everything he had said before looking him straight in the eye. "Let me sleep on it… and I'll give you my answer tomorrow."

"That's… acceptable." Pitch concluded. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was still better than being shot down again outright. It meant that there was still a chance for this little alliance to work. "I'll see you tomorrow at noon. Have your decision by then." And with those words he merged with the shadows and vanished.

Once he was gone Artemis exhaled a long, tired breath. And she turned her attention back to the snake that had just picked up the fallen rose from earlier and put it back on her desk. It still looked at her as though it was awaiting orders.

"Stay here." She said to it as she stood up, her back cracking loudly. And with that she left the cobra in the room and walked down the hall, into her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. Completely exhausted... But it was just as she was about to pass out that she realized something... In the course of this one crazy, hectic day her world had been virtually turned upside down. She now had control over a strange yet undeniably strong power and what was really the icing on the cake was that the Boogeyman wanted to make an alliance with her… how ironic_..._ but that wasn't what she was thinking about at that moment; what she was thinking about was that she now had a chance…

_A chance to avenge her son…_

_A chance to rip the still beating heart straight from that spirit's chest…_

_This thought filled her heart with a dark, wicked joy…_

_And because of this…_

_Perhaps Artemis wasn't nearly as alright as she let on…_

**Alright, yes, I'm sorry about how long it took for this chapter to get posted. Sadly I had a bit of writers block with this chapter and that's why it took so long… But the good news is that the next chapter will definitely be up much faster. Again I apologize for the wait, but please remember to Read and Review! :)**


	5. Partnership

**Chapter 5**

**Partnership**

_By the morning Artemis had made up her mind…_

And now she just sat quietly at her kitchen table, quietly sipping some hot tea that she had just made and hoping it would help to calm her nerves. Impatiently she kept checking her watch, as though this would somehow make the time pass quicker… but alas, only mere seconds passed in between the numerous times that she'd checked. Artemis growled in frustration and pulled her sleeve back down over this her watch, and after a second she sighed in annoyance… she needed to be patient. After all he said that he would be here at noon and it was still early yet. But a sudden loud hissing caught Artemis's attention and she looked only to see the cobra creature that she had created the previous night slither into her kitchen before it reared up and proceeded to stare at her with its own ruby-like eyes…

"Oh… crap…" She muttered as she looked over the hellish black and red serpent. "What the hell am I supposed to do with you?" As though to answer her question, the snake slithered forward until it was mere inches from Artemis's body. It then proceeded to lower its head… almost as though it was bowing. Nervously Artemis reached her hand out and carefully touched the creature. Funny it didn't feel like a snake at all, whereas snakes felt smooth and scaly this creature felt… gritty. It was like touching the wet sand on the beach but it wasn't wet, no, it felt warm. Like it was pulsing with heat... almost as though there was a flame literally burning just beneath that black, gritty exterior; and as strange as it was… Artemis couldn't help but think that she just might like having this creature around.

"They should serve you faithfully and without question. But I suppose that they might still have some sort of a mind of their own." Pitch commented from directly behind Artemis, who had failed to notice that he had arrived. The writer literally jumped out of her seat before turning around and glaring daggers into the Boogeyman; her cobra proceeded to rear up and hiss wickedly at him. Undoubtedly reacting to Artemis's over-reaction.

"Damn it! Don't do that! I'm walking on the razors edge with my nerves as it is!" She snapped angrily. Yet surprisingly enough this actually got an amused sneer from Pitch.

"Oh, so I was succeeding in my efforts to drive you insane then?"

"Stuff it…" Artemis growled coldly. "I see that you actually came early… wait... just how long have you been here?"

"Long enough to watch you check your watch about thirty times in under an hour… originally I was only going to make myself known at our arranged time. But I have obviously changed my mind." He commented dryly as the serpent began to circle him, it's fangs still bared and it looked as though it was ready to strike out at any moment. "Now do you mind calling your pet off?"

"Uh, yeah… um…" Artemis thought for a second before an idea clearly formed in her head "Nyoka! Stand down!" Immediately the snake backed off and retreated to its master and curled up at her feet; although its eyes were still locked on Pitch.

"Nyoka?" He questioned curiously.

"It's Swahili for snake." Artemis said simply. "I just figured… well… it needed a name. Especially since I think I'm going to be stuck with it for a while."

"Getting back to the main reason for my presence," Pitch stated flatly successfully drawing the conversation back to the topic that needed to be discussed. "Have you made up your mind about a temporary alliance?"

"I have." Artemis answered as her features suddenly became stone cold serious. "While an alliance would be beneficial to us both, I was thinking that we could discuss some… terms? So we both know what it is the other wants in detail and there are no shall we say… unwanted surprises?" Pitch blinked once in slight surprise, so she was interested in becoming allies after all. Even though he had suspected she would be, there was something relieving about hearing it being said out loud… and discussing the terms of this arrangement was actually a very good idea. So he decided to go along with it.

"Very well." He said with a slight nod. Artemis motioned for him to sit at the table, which he did. "Although since you don't know the story behind my own goals I doubt that they will make much sense to you..."

"Then tell me."

"...Pardon?"

"Tell me your story." Artemis stated bluntly. "You said that I wouldn't understand, but believe it or not I actually _want_ to understand. So if telling your story will do that then I would like to hear it."

_Pitch stared at her with disbelief._

"You know… there has only been one other person to _ever_ ask me to tell my side of well… anything… but that was almost twenty years ago." He commented… and he failed to notice that for a second an unreadable emotion flashed through Artemis's ruby eyes. But it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. "But if you truly want to know I'll start at the beginning…" And so Pitch told Artemis _**his**_ side of the story… the story that the Guardians were unaware of or perhaps genuinely didn't give a damn about. The story of being bitterly alone and feared while watching his enemies bring joy and light and were adored by all and loved. All the while Artemis listened quietly, although she did only interrupt when she had a quick question and that was all… still she actually listened to him…

_And by telling his story he felt something he didn't expect…_

_He felt relief…_

_Even if he did leave out a few obvious parts…_

_And one thing at the end…_

"And then my own Nightmares turned on me…" he finished. "So now that you know what I have had to endure; you must at least somewhat understand what I want."

"You want revenge on the Guardians." Artemis concluded. "I don't blame you, since I am also a firm believer in the fine practice of revenge… I think you're justified. But what bugs me the most is that this so-called _'Man in the Moon' _chose to make that little winter demon a Guardian!"

"It does baffle the mind." Pitch muttered darkly. Even though he was unaware of what made Artemis hate Jack so much he wasn't going to say anything that might deteriorate his chances of this alliance working out. "Still… after some much desired revenge on those rotten Guardian's; I would re-establish fear in the hearts of children. I would make them believe in me again and this time I will make sure that they never stop believing! I will **never** be damned to obscurity again!" he seethed. Now at this Artemis remained quiet for a long time, obviously deep in thought. Finally she took a deep breath and exhaled very slowly…

"You need my help to do this… because I am a Magic Artist right? But what exactly can a Magic Artist do to help you get revenge?" She questioned.

"You have powers that rival some of the most powerful spirits. If used correctly we could strike decisive blows to the big five that would weaken, if not outright destroy them." Pitch explained bluntly. Since this was his main objective and Artemis did say that she didn't want any surprises he didn't want to go through the trouble that lying would probably bring around.

_Although the look that Artemis gave him made him seriously start to re-think this move..._

"Hang on, I don't want to kill anyone accept for this Jack Frost… and I have a godson who rather enjoys Christmas and Easter!" She explained. This instantly didn't sit well with Pitch; his eyes narrowed angrily as he started to see this alliance going up in smoke.

"That is my main goal; if you are unwilling to help me with my vengeance-"

"I never said that! Don't forget that I heard your side of the story and I agree you were wronged… you deserve revenge. But you shouldn't kill them; the world is dark and cold enough. Let the children of this world have their dreams, hopes and wonder… because it dies for everyone soon enough!" Artemis snapped, as her heart suddenly felt the burden of the unspeakable misery that was always buried just below the surface. And yet as always Artemis never let it show… she just worked on suppressing the pain once again. Still Pitch was clearly surprised by her sudden outburst and he went dead quiet.

And a long awkward silence fell between the spirit and the writer. Artemis' mind however was racing; an idea began to form within the back of her mind. At first it was just a quick insignificant idea, but then the more she thought about it the more the idea came together and to her it seemed nothing short of brilliant!

"What if I can offer you an alternative?" She questioned. "Something that will give you exactly what it is you really want… to make people believe in you." Although like Artemis Pitch didn't show his sudden intrigue… but his eyes did seem to flash a more vibrant hue of gold for a moment.

"And just how would you be able to give me that?"

"Did you forget that I am a world re-known author?" Artemis said with a malevolent smile suddenly spreading across her features as the conversation now seemed to have turned in her favor. "My work is designed to make people afraid; let me write a book that depicts you in it and I can virtually guarantee that you will have all of the fear that you could ever want."

"But your books are geared more towards adults, how would you manage to get children to start fearing me-"

"Please, I know how to tone things down in order to target a specific age group. Essentially I'd write this book and label it _'For all ages.'_ Hehe, my publisher would have a field day with it. Since kids **do** read my work… no matter what there will always be those kids that do things that they are told not to do. Those kids become afraid and then they spread their fear to others… like an infection." She explained calmly. Pitch quietly mulled this over… it wasn't exactly what he wanted, but it sure as hell was better than nothing. Although he suddenly remembered that he was yet to hear what it was that Artemis wanted out of this little partnership… aside from the obvious bit of wanting Jack Frost to either die or suffer… he ultimately decided to make his decision after hearing the specifics of what it was that she wanted.

"I'm not going to deny that your offer is really very tempting, but what is **your** goal in all of this?" Pitch asked curiously as his golden eyes began boring into her… boring into her soul once again. Trying to read as much into her as he could. It was exceedingly rare that he happened upon an individual that he could not see into, that he couldn't see the fears or just the general inner workings of…

_And currently trying to read anything in Artemis's soul was like trying to read a concrete slab…_

"What I want from all of this? What are my goals?" Artemis asked, but her voice suddenly sounded very distant and cold… hollow… "What I truly want is something that was stolen from me by that ratty little winter spirit… and I know that I can never get it back. So I'm gonna just go with the next best thing, good old fashioned _**revenge**_."

"What did Jack Frost take from you?" Pitch asked. But Artemis just fixed her stone cold ruby eyes on Pitch and stared at him… and after a few minutes of dead silence Pitch realized that she had absolutely no intent on answering him. At this he growled in annoyance.

"That's not fair you know; I told you my motives. You should at least give me the same courtesy."

"I would, but merely thinking about what that little bastard has done makes me feel as though my heart is going to rip itself right out of my chest. The few times I actually have tried to talk about it… well… the pain is so bad that it makes me wish that my heart **was** being ripped out of my chest." Artemis explained, the tone in her voice was so dark that it sent chills up Pitch's spine. "But I will tell you this much. Jack Frost is responsible for killing the most precious thing there was in my life. I want to make him suffer for what he did… and if these powers that I apparently have can be used to further that goal, I'd like to learn how to use them properly. You said that you could teach me."

"I can."

"So to sum it all up, what I want is your help to master this whole Magic Artist thing and to reap holy hell on this Jack Frost. In exchange for this I will write a book that will make you the most feared spirit on the face of the earth and we'll deal a few damaging blows to the other Guardians… so… what do you say? Do we have a deal or not?" Artemis asked.

…_silence…_

Uncomfortable silence fell once again between the two and for a few minutes Artemis started to wonder if he was going to respond to her question at all. But after another few minutes the Boogeyman suddenly smirked. As one way or another he truly did find her very amusing…

"Pitch Black."

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Pitch Black. I believe that it is customary for partners to know each other's names; you already told your name, but you didn't know mine until now." He chuckled as the full realization that Pitch had just accepted the deal sunk in and after a moment Artemis smiled a happy yet somewhat insane grin. While Nyoka hissed almost in a content manner from his position still at his masters' feet.

"Well than Pitch, I look forward to this arrangement working out for the both of us." She commented as she extended her hand to the Boogeyman who took her hand.

_And they shook on it…_

_Sealing their partnership…_

**Yes I am sorry this did take a long time to post but it was delayed mostly on account of the fact that I was swamped with homework and I was sick for a while… nonetheless I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I will definitely try to have the next one up quicker. As always please remember to Read and Review! ^_^**


	6. A Test Run

**Chapter 6**

**A Test Run**

"Let's start things off right now. A little test run for those abilities of yours." Pitch said as he quickly stood up and waved his hand in a nonchalant manner. "Go grab your quill, some paper and ink and we'll begin."

"Whoa what… now?" Artemis asked dumbly. "But I don't have the faintest clue how to use-"

"One learns by doing… I said that I was going to teach you and I meant it. From what I've seen you're good at drawing, but your true skill lies within your writing… If you combine that with your powers you can take control of the area around you… although the catch is that you cannot outright control individuals with it." Pitch explained as he watched Artemis give him a strange look before she did as she was told and went into the other room to gather her supplies. Quickly returning a minute or so later.

"Okay… how are we going to do this?" She asked just as Pitch suddenly raised his hand, producing a literal wave of Nightmare Sand which began to circle around the entire room. Nyoka hissed in displeasure and quickly slithered its way up Artemis's body before loosely wrapping itself around her neck several times. While not exactly pleased with her new pet deciding to use her as a roost, Artemis didn't get the chance to voice her discomfort as just then all of the Nightmare Sand converged on her and Pitch successfully knocking the wind right out of the unsuspecting author. The sand proceeded to not only sweep Artemis right off of her feet but it also filled her vision, blinding her to whatever else was happening… This was then followed by the sensation of falling from a great height… and the next thing Artemis knew she face planted straight into something soft, wet and extremely cold…

When she looked up she was nearly blinded from a freezing wind blowing straight into her face. And only after she managed to get to her feet and actually look around did it hit her like a sledgehammer straight to her stomach… as she was currently looking up from the base of a towering mountain of snow and ice at a large magnificent factory of some sorts that was built right into the mountainside!

_She knew instantly that this the North fucking Pole…_

"It is actually very impressive don't you think?" Pitch asked in a noticeably amused tone from directly behind Artemis, which caused her to whip around and glare at him all while shivering violently.

"N-Not f-funny!" She growled as best that she could as she suddenly began to shiver violently. "Why d-didn't you just w-warp us inside of the fa-factory?"

"I was curious to see whether or not you had the same tolerance to the elements that actual spirits had… apparently you don't." Although she wasn't entirely sure, Artemis suspected that he already knew that and only teleported her out into the freezing cold wasteland just to mess with her… While she had every right to get pissed at him, Artemis recalled that she had clubbed him upside the head with a bookend and stabbed him repeatedly in the leg with a fork…

"Y-Yeah well, you still n-n-need me to w-write the book; I c-can't d-d-do that if m-my fingers get fr-frostbite!"

She made a good point. So at this Pitch waved his hand, creating another wave of the black swirling Nightmare Sand that quickly enveloped the two of them. Only the teleportation went considerably smoother… of course the landing didn't involve landing face first in snow this time. In fact when the dust settled Artemis had to blink a few times for her eyes to adjust from the rapid change in temperature; going from bone chillingly cold to pleasantly warm in a matter of seconds. Although her breath caught in her throat when she looked around at the wonders that were now before her… It truly was the most amazing thing that she had ever seen. From her position, unseen within the shadows she couldn't help but stare at everything that was around her.

_Oh, how her Johnny would have loved to have seen this…_

The second that this thought entered Artemis's mind all of her awe and wonder was instantaneously drowned within her sorrow that poured out from the very depths of her soul. How unfair was this? Here she was seeing the interior of the one place that every child dreams of visiting one day; the place her young son had once told her he dreamed of and it had been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A place of light and beauty and _**color**_. Oh, yes when he had told her that last part she had nearly burst out crying tears of joy for her child…

_After all, what kind of mother wouldn't be overjoyed knowing that her colorblind child had received the only thing he'd asked for in his letter to Santa?_

He had seen color for what was the first and only time in his life, within a vivid and beautiful dream. Artemis could still remember how Johnny had been so happy that he had been in tears, describing the colors he had seen in his dream. The colors of Santa's workshop and the vision he'd had of the jolly old Spirit of Wonder and the shining little man who looked like he was made of gold… someone that Artemis knew to be Sandman, as she had actually seen the dream weaver a few times in her life. That had been the day her soul had just been filled with joy for her son… but now… now looking back on that single wonderful Christmas day, she found no joy. All that was left was bitter grief and the fact that there would never be that kind of happiness in her life ever again…

_And for a single solitary minute she wished that no other child would get to enjoy the sight that her dead son never got to see…_

Naturally she found this thought to be horrible! Mentally cursing herself over and over again for so much as daring to think of something so cruel. She fought to get a grip on this terrible feeling of sorrow and the repulsion of such selfish and wicked thoughts. However her sudden fluctuation of emotions caught Pitch's attention and he decided that now would be a good time to get things rolling.

"I'm sure at this point you've realized the place that we currently are is North's factory. Since we are testing your powers out right now… I figured this would be a good place to start."

"What exactly do you want me to do?" Artemis asked, trying in vain to disguise the icy tone in her voice.

"I want you to cause trouble. Create a little havoc... in short I want you to completely level this place." Pitch said in a tone every bit as cold as Artemis's. At this she looked at him with a noticeable amount of doubt and confusion shining clearly in her ruby red eyes.

"What exactly will this accomplish?"

"You want to get back at Jack Frost? First we need to get him here; him and the rest of the Guardian's. An attack on the factory will bring all of them together and after that we'll work from there." Pitch explained calmly, his eyes scanning over the main parts of the factory. He was grateful that all of the Yeti's seemed far to engulfed in their work to notice his and Artemis's sudden appearance within the factory. Artemis looked over this amazing place one last time, trying to memorize its beauty...

"This is for you Johnny... I will avenge your death." She whispered so quietly that even Pitch could not hear. It was at that moment that a strange, dark gleam proceeded to appear in her eyes. From amidst the pile of writing paper that Artemis was still holding tightly to her chest she produced a bottle of brand new ink and a writing quill. Nyoka hissed and slid its tail out from within its coils around Artemis's neck and took the bottle from her hand, holding it for her so it would be easier for her to write. Pitch reached over and uncorked the bottle while at the same time he deposited a bit of his Nightmare Sand into the ink... he then looked at Artemis and gave her a nod. Indicating for her to begin.

**And she began to write...**

_In this place… this epicenter of joy and wonder, that toys and dream are built… the air suddenly underwent a most unwanted change. Seeming to grow stagnant and still…_

The effect was nearly immediate. The second that Artemis finished writing down this first line Pitch felt the air in the room undergo the very transformation that she had just written down. He wasn't reading what Artemis was writing; he wanted to watch whatever horrors the so-called **'Queen of Fear' **was going to create for North's wretched factory. He wanted to enjoy the show and be surprised. Although as he watched the hustle and bustle continue, it was clear that some of the Yeti's and Elves had taken notice of the sudden change in the air.

_It continued on, the air was truly becoming sour. Like the unholy breath of a fallen angel; little could anyone tell that this was only the opening act for this truly gruesome performance…_

At this point every living creature in the factory had taken notice of the now obvious change in the atmosphere. Many even began looking around for a source of this strange occurrence... As the tension in the room began to steadily increase, Artemis locked her hellish eyes upon the massive globe that was in the center of the room and a malevolent and somewhat psychotic grin appeared upon her features as she suddenly got a great idea. She proceeded to turn her full attention to her writing and did not look up again.

_Round and round the globe did spin until I, the writer of this scene chose for it to spin no more! It stopped and split itself straight down the middle, this fissure appearing with a loud and thunderous **CRACK!** Resounding with all the ferocity of a dragon's warcry!_

No sooner did her quill leave the page after writing the final word did the massive globe suddenly stop its slow turning and crack straight down its center. It went without saying that this caused a terrific uproar from all the unfortunate spectators. In fact the booming sound when the crack occurred had caught North's attention and he stormed out of his workshop, sword in hand. Pitch took a terrific amount of pleasure in watching the Cossack's face fill with confusion at what was happening.

_This fracture upon the globe of lights and belief then began to suddenly bleed… blood that was long dead, black and coagulated. More and more spilling from the globe and washing across the floor, bringing with it the rancid stench of hundreds of rotting corpses… An awesome and terrible dark spectacle to behold!_

Right on cue the broken globe suddenly began to ooze a foul black substance that carried with it the most disgustingly foul smell that anyone had ever been unfortunate enough to experience. North had to try and cover his nose and mouth with a rag from his back pocket, but even this did little to block out the odor of long rotten blood. Not to mention that the second that the blood-sludge started to spill itself over the floors and walls of his factory it sent many Yeti's and Elves into full blown panics and he began trying in vain to keep everyone calm... all the while to not become violently ill from the stench of it all.

_The ice from the outside upon this writer's decree began to make its way within this workshop. No fire lit within this once happy place could ever hope to pierce it… the cold was so bitter that it would seem as though God in heaven cast his hand upon this ice and commanded that it be cold enough to still life's once sweet breath forevermore…_

All of the windows in the entire factory at that instant shattered and the freezing winds from the outside began to blow throughout the entire building creating a terrifying howling sound as it whipped throughout all the corridors and blasted through every room; this whole situation was starting to cause even North to become unnerved. Until something suddenly caught his attention out of the corner of his eye...

_By this dark writers command, this abominable sight will now be carried over into the dreams of all whom have witnessed it! Let them dream! Let them dream of the rancid smell, the feel of the cold air and the blood that now stains! Stains… stains on the skin, stains on the flesh, stains on the soul…_

Could it be? It was! It had to be! It was Pitch! He should have suspected as much, all of this horror could only be his doing! Granted everything that was happening seemed extreme, even for Pitch... Nonetheless North didn't waste any time as he started Pitch's way. But just as he was halfway to him he paused in surprise as he suddenly noticed that Pitch was not alone, there was a young woman with him. And strangely enough she was furiously writing something down... Unfortunately for North, his pause gave Pitch just enough time to take notice of him and quickly grabbed the woman who was with him and the two disappeared in a sudden rush of Nightmare Dust... leaving only a single piece of writing paper behind in their wake. And even in the midst of the chaos that had by now completely taken over his factory North stopped and read the words written in black glittering ink...

_May the stains never wash out…_

* * *

"That was perfect! Oh, the look on North's face was absolutely priceless!" Pitch managed to breathe out in between rounds of side-splitting laughter. In spite of the rather grim circumstances that has caused Pitch such obvious glee Artemis couldn't help but smile a little bit. There was something strangely nice about his laugh... and judging by the story he had told her earlier she could tell that he didn't get the chance to laugh often.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Artemis chuckled slightly herself as she without realizing it began petting Nyoka's head. "Honestly I'm still in a bit of shock that all of that actually worked."

"Your talents as a horror novelist shine like a dark star." Pitch said in an obvious attempt at giving a compliment... he admits that he's genuinely out of practice at that, although Artemis seemed to have taken it as what it was meant to be. Still, his smile did fade somewhat as he had to get back to business. "This was only the tip of the iceberg and while I did truly enjoy that... there is still the matter of the book you promised me."

"Funny you should mention that." Artemis commented. "For the first time in... quite a long time... I actually feel like writing again. Not to mention that I think I might have an idea for the book forming." She looked at him curiously at this... "Normally I don't have people read my work until it's finished, but since this is somewhat of a joint project would you like to give me some input once I get the layout written?"

"Very well." Was his nonchalant answer. Although Artemis stood up from her current position on the couch in her writing room and cracked her back loudly before starting to walk out of the room. "Um... where are you going? I thought this was your office?"

"Rule number one about writing novels, never do so without one's preferred snack... do you like hot chocolate by any chance?" She asked and Pitch blinked in complete surprise, having definitely not expected her to offer him anything.

"Um... yes actually."

"With or without marshmallows?"

"With please." Dear god how long had it actually been since he'd had hot chocolate? In fact... how long had it been since he'd actually eaten anything? Naturally as a spirit he didn't need to eat or drink but still... when Artemis returned with a steaming mug full of hot chocolate with marshmallows. It was... strange, but a good strange. A strange that perhaps indicated that things may yet change for the better... in complete honesty he looked back on everything that had happened...

_North's factory was in total chaos..._

_He had hot chocolate with marshmallows..._

_...this was a good day... _

**Okay yeah that's where I'm going to have to leave it for now... on a positive note I'm finished with college and out for the summer! So expect updates much more regularly now! As always please remember to Read and Review! ^_^**


	7. What is yet to come

**Chapter 7**

**What is yet to come...**

After North successfully managed to re-establish some sense of control over his workshop he wasted no time in sending up the signal to summon his fellow Guardians. Bunnymund had been the first to arrive and after a while he was followed by Toothiana and Sandman... and unsurprisingly Jack Frost would be the last one to arrive, although he hadn't arrived yet. However the order they arrived in was unimportant; what was important was the obvious urgency of North calling them together... something that was instantly understood the second that they laid eyes upon the hideous, revolting mess that the Yeti's and the Elves were still attempting to clean.

"Bloody hell mate, what happened 'ere?!" Bunnymund asked as he held a hand over his nose, trying desperately to block out the stench of rotten blood that filled North's great workshop like an unholy fog.

"I only wish I knew..." the Cossack growled as he continued to pace the area, hoping in vain that it might help to settle his nerves. "I have never seen anything like this before! It all happened so fast... but if there is one thing that I am sure of, Pitch is the one who is responsible for this!" At these words that Bunnymund's back went ramrod straight, Tooth placed her hands over her mouth and a golden exclamation point appeared above Sandman's head.

"I thought Pitch was still trapped down in his lair." The voice of Jack Frost suddenly stated as the others looked over only to see the young winter spirit entering the workshop through one of the destroyed windows. Although his sudden appearance had made his fellow spirits jump slightly, due to the overall severity of the situation... and that this revelation had set everyone's nerves on edge.

"Yes... I had believed that myself, until I saw him here." North grunted as he tightened his grip on his swords. "Only he wasn't alone this time, there was someone else with him! I do not know who, but I am guessing that whoever it was is the one responsible for making all of this happen!"

"You think Pitch is working with someone else?" Tooth questioned as she continued to look around the room at the destruction and havoc that had only happened a few hours prior. But it was the smell... the stench of death and rot made her want to gag. Tooth was definitely not one to let things bother her, but this... whoever had done this had a truly dark and sickened mind.

"Yes..." North said as he dipped the blade of one of his swords into a puddle of the coagulated blood that was still in a section of the floor. "Pitch is powerful, but I don't think he can make something of this magnitude happen... I also found this..." He said holding up that piece of paper with the words _'__May the stains never wash out…'_ written on it. The Guardians took turns scanning the paper that North held in his hand; clearly it didn't mean much to either Bunny or Tooth... but when Sandman looked at the elegant letters written in the shimmering black ink, the little dream weaver's eyes widened in a mix of disbelief and utter horror... not that the others really got the chance to notice as Jack suddenly swiped the page from North and began looking it over a little more closely.

"Annnnddd Pitch is now trying to emulate Edgar Allen Poe?" The winter spirit said with a slight chuckle as he proceeded to fold up the page into a small paper-airplane and fling it into the irritated Australian Pooka's nose.

"Try to be serious for half a minute ya wanker;" Bunnymund growled in annoyance at Jack. While their relationship had definitely improved from what it was, there were still times, much like this, that he still got the occasional urge to throttle the Guardian of fun... "This isn't something to joke about! If Pitch is back then-"

"Then we'll take him down just like we did before." Jack retorted as he proceeded to balance himself atop his staff in a carefree sort of way. Before Bunny could respond to Jack's cockiness **(Either vocally or by hitting him upside the head with one of his boomerangs...)** Tooth interrupted by shrilly whistling... so loud that she accidently hurt Bunny's ears. Nonetheless it had been effective in getting the two to stop with their silly little squabble.

"You are forgetting one thing Jack; we do not know who his new ally is or what they are capable of." North explained darkly. "You were not here; you did not see what happened... I- eh? Sandy? Where are you going?" North asked as the short little man had rather abruptly turned away from the group and was seemingly leaving this emergency gathering. Sandman turned to look back at his friends... letting them finally take notice of his worried expression.

'_I have to go.'_ The symbols above the Sandman's head translated to his friends. _'I have to check something.'_

"Right now?" Jack questioned as any form of his good mood began to disappear. Out of all of the Guardians, Sandman was considered the calmest... so to see him suddenly become as nervous as he currently was acting was very worrying. Sandman did not respond to Jack as he hurriedly made his way outside the factory and into the frozen tundra where he used his golden Dream Sand to create a plane, one of his faster preferred methods of transportation, and with that he left the North Pole in a great hurry... All the while his mind was racing, trying to reason out that what he feared was simply not the truth. There was no way that Pitch could have found out about the one secret Sandman had kept hidden from his friends? A secret he had been sworn to never mention? A secret that was only known to him and one other?

_...it just couldn't be..._

* * *

_**(Two Weeks Later...)**_

"Wow..."

"Is that a good wow or a bad wow?"

"It's just... well, wow..."

Artemis sighed in frustration as she put down her writing quill and rubbed her temples as she felt a migraine starting to form. It had taken her an entire week to sort out all of the loose ends with her publisher. Imagine his complete surprise when Artemis had called him shortly after their previous meeting and explained that she had suddenly overcome her writers block and that she also had a new book idea in mind that she was even intending to be read by younger readers. He had been skeptical at this, as he suspected that most parents would probably not allow their children to read anything that Artemis wrote, toned down or not... It had taken some convincing before he finally agreed to make up his own mind when he had read the first draft...Only once that was done did she write out a few basic character biographies, draft some plot devices, and do a bit of research into a few things here and there did she finally start the process of writing the actual book.

'_About time!'_ Pitch had growled, aggravated that it had taken her as long as it had to start writing her promised novel. Of course Artemis had pointed out that she always took her time when she was beginning her work and what would he prefer in the long run? Something that she essentially rushed at writing that would turn out to be nothing but a piece of crap? Or something that took a little more time but was written well and was ultimately much more successful? Judging by the fact that the Boogeyman went silent and walked away, he saw her point. Of course that didn't mean that he had to be happy about it... In fact ever since she had gotten started writing her latest work Pitch had been an annoying little git. Of course this might not have been entirely his fault, as usually when Artemis was focusing on her writing she didn't exactly interact with people... in fact Dreary had once pointed out that Artemis entered what she had jokingly nicknamed _'Hermit Mode.'_ Although Artemis had never been particularly fond of the comparison she couldn't help but see her point and for this reason she didn't lose her patience at Pitch... not to mention that as had been demonstrated prior to this, Artemis had a high tolerance for whatever he could throw at her... cutlery included... Although she had discovered that Hot Chocolate would temporarily distract him; unfortunately she had also discovered that after he'd downed his fifth mug of the stuff Pitch acted a little bit... well... scary.

And what was meant by that was his pupils completely disappeared and he started smiling a creepy sharp-toothed smile... after which he had disappeared for several long hours before eventually reappearing passed out on Artemis's couch. Shortly afterwards on the news it was revealed that the local school had to close early on account of a supposed gas leak that had caused virtually all of the children to have vivid, terrifying hallucinations.

_It didn't take a genius to figure out that these two incidents were very much related..._

Still after a few failed drafts, a couple heated arguments over time management and seven dead chipmunks... **(Courtesy of Nyoka who had found that hunting the small critters that inhabited the surrounding area most enjoyable... Although Artemis was far from happy with the sudden increase in animal corpses and found it to be annoying as hell.)** Artemis had finished the final draft of her first chapter... **(Unless of course she decided to go back and re-write something later on.) **And now she was currently letting Pitch read it over... and apparently it was going quite well.

_He had not been disappointed..._

"I'm surprised that you put this kind of detail in the first chapter." Pitch commented as he put all the pages back in order.

"I like to paint pictures with my words, I've been writing long enough to know that with this I had to be detailed but in a way that a ten year old can still follow along." Artemis chuckled slightly as she began looking in one of the drawers in her desk for something or other. "Naturally your character won't actually appear in the story until the fourth chapter; but there will be a lot of things that will make the reader afraid of what is going to happen next. When I actually get to the fourth chapter it will really set the non-stop roller-coaster of horror in motion."

"It's already quite good. I'm particularly fond of the main character, a young twelve year old girl named Anne who by all means seems normal enough to those around her; but the sinister undertones are already in place. Such as the workaholic parents and the girls quietly displayed fear of her older brother... a sixteen year old boy named Jack Frost."

"I'll admit it, I am a vengeful bitch... I figured that if it will give even a few kids nightmares about _'Jack Frost'_ why not? Besides as the story advances this character is revealed to be a sociopathic menace that tortures and kills animals and leaves them in his sister's room. Of course the reader will be led to believe that it is the Boogeyman at first." Artemis said as she apparently found what she was looking for and she pulled out a thick pile of blank paper, a paintbrush and a bottle of what had now been named Nightmare Ink from the drawer just as Pitch started laughing hysterically.

"Oh that would be _priceless_! The little twerp wants to be seen so desperately; it will be a riot to watch him as children run away from him in complete terror!" After snickering wickedly for a little longer he managed to get a grip on himself when he noticed that Artemis was quite literally painting an entire sheet of paper with the ink. "What are you doing?"

"I've had this idea for a while now. My godson likes this one videogame called Ookami, where you use a paintbrush to affect the world... I was wondering if I could do the same if I had mirror-like reflective surface on one of these pages." Of course by the time she had finished painting the page all she had was a soaking wet mess of Nightmare Ink and paper. "Although something tells me that I should have given this a bit more thought."

"Or you could have just voiced this request." And with that Pitch dipped his finger into the ink that was now getting all over everything on the desk and the dark glittering Nightmare Ink began to merge itself to the paper, changing it into something else... and within moments there wasn't a pile of paper anymore, but there was what looked like a small chalkboard that quite literally reflected everything that it was facing.

"Um... thank you?"

"It was a surprisingly good idea, although I think I have to actually see whatever it is you're actually trying to describe. Care to demonstrate?" In a moment of what could only be described as perfect timing, Nyoka slithered into the room a dead rabbit tightly clamped in its jaws. He slithered up and deposited the fresh and bloody kill at Artemis's feet, as if making an offering to its master before slithering out of the room once again. While this was equally disturbing and creepy, Artemis saw it as an opportunity to test out her new device. She picked up her quill from off of her desk and after quickly dipping it into some of the remaining Nightmare Ink; she made a quick and clean slash over the reflective image of the rabbit... only what happened wasn't quite what Artemis had intended.

_Namely the dead rabbit exploded..._

And it sprayed blood everywhere! All over herself, Pitch and the first chapter of her new book. There was a long awkward silence as Pitch reached up and wiped some of the blood off of his face while glaring angrily at the author.

"What was that supposed to do?" he hissed irritably.

"I was trying to make it disappear. Apparently I still have to work on controlling these powers... eww this is so gross..." Fortunately however a thought occurred to her and she pulled out a clean sheet of paper and quickly scribbled something on it. In an instant all of the blood and bunny gore seemed to evaporate off of everything, leaving nothing but the uncomfortable feeling of knowing that just a second ago they had been covered in blood. "Ah, that's much better... Geeze I'll bet that this is a handy trick should I ever have to hide a body."

_She had absolutely no idea why that thought occurred to her right then..._

"Not exactly, you can't just write something out of existence. Hence why the rabbit exploded." Pitch explained as he flipped through the pages once again. Just as Artemis was about to say something along the lines of _'You could have mentioned this earlier and spared us an exploding big eared rat!'_ her phone rang. So with a sigh she answered it with a slightly aggravated hello... but after a few minutes Pitch watched the writer's expression undergo a disturbing change. A blind man would have been able to tell that whatever this phone call was about it was far from good... very far...

"When?! Is she alright?!" Artemis asked as she suddenly stood up and began to frantically pace the room. "Yes! Yes I'll be right there!" And with that she slammed the phone down and began zipping around her house while grabbing her coat, scarf and then began rapidly searching for her car keys.

"What is going on?" Pitch asked whilst holding up the keys the young woman was searching for and also finding that he was surprisingly concerned about whatever it was that had visibly left Artemis in such a state.

"My friend Dreary is in the hospital! It was something... oh dear god, there was something... something happened a-and no one will tell me anything!" She explained as she snatched her keys from his hand. "I'm sorry, I have to go!" And with that she raced out the door at full speed, not even bothering to close the door on the way out... But Pitch did as he stepped outside and watched as Artemis's Jeep tore out of her snowy driveway at a breakneck speed. Even though he had currently been left behind, he had every intention of following her... Although he didn't want to admit it he found himself somewhat concerned for her well-being, even if it was only because of their little arrangement... or the fact that he would deny even to himself, that he might actually be enjoying her company even in the slightest.

_However..._

_No one could guess that before this day was over, the festering darkness in Artemis's heart would begin to rise to the surface..._

_**I'm gonna say it now and I swear that I am not making excuses... my computer is on its last legs and keeps dying at random times and won't work at all unless it's completely charged. And the battery is all screwed up so it takes forever to actually charge... So... yeah, until I get a new one updating has become a bit tricky for all of my stories... and I also apologize for my crappy Australian... playing Bunnymund was harder than I expected it to be and I'm sorry if I did a poor job, I do promise to improve it in the future though... well that's it for now, and as always Please remember to Read and Review!**_


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